Turn-table.



PATENTED OCT. 9, 1906. H. BANDMANN.

TURN TABLE.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 25. 1906.

Mbaesses [iv/anion UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

TURN-TABLE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Oct. 9, 1906.

Application filed June 25,1906. Serial No. 322.202.

T0 at whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HEINRICH BANDMANN, a citizen of the German Empire,and a Iesi dent of Oberdisteln, Westphalia, Germany, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Turn-Tables, of whichthefollowing is a specification. i

The invention has for its object a turnplate for track-crossings as usedfor tracks of small gage, principally for field and mine lines, toreplace the separately-built-in turntable for turning the vehicles andforming branch connections.

The invention is characterised by the fact that the turn-plate is not,as hitherto, built in in. such a way that its surface lies below the topof the rails, so that the flanges of the wheels are able to run directlyon the plate, which, however, necessitates an interruption of the trackwhere the turn-table is built in.

In accordance with the present invention the plate is simply laid uponthe continuous track and the possibility of the vehicle running onto theturn-plate without shock or excessive effort is afforded, owing to thefact that this plate is provided with deflected or bent parts lyingbetween the rails and corresponding as exactly as possible to the gage.These bent parts serve as inclined planes upon which the flanges of thewheels run and by means of which the vehicle is brought onto the surfaceof the turn-plate. This surface is situated above the top of the railsby the amount of the thickness of the plate. The vehicle runs off theplate on the other side in a precisely similar manner. The bent partsengaging between the rails likewise prevent the rotation of the platewhen the vehicle is being turned. Accordingly the novel turn-plate maybe placed on any part of a continuous track for the purpose of forming alevel crossing without any preparation. The lateral connecting track orthe two branch tracks'may be arranged against the turn-plate in such amanner that they ascend toward it, thus causing the top of their railsto extend so far above the surface of the turn-plate that the flanges ofthe vehicle traveling onto the connecting tracks run directly upon theplate. Another method of effecting these lateral connections consists informing not only the ends of the turn-plate which lie between the railsof the throughtrack as inclined planes, but also providing the ends ofthe plate lying between the rails of the branches with an inclinedbearing-surface for the flanges of the wheels. The turnplate is thenperfectly symmetrical, so that the tracks may all lie in one plane.

The turn-plate is provided in the middle in the known manner with avertical pivot, serving asa stop when a vehicle is turned, the diameterof this pivot being approximately equal to the gage less twice thethickness of the flange. Guidingangles provided with rounded-off cornersand placed at each crossing serve to insure the guidance of the vehicleonto the track.

a In the accompanying drawings a constructional form of the device inaccordance with the invention is shown, the formation being the same onall four sides.

.Figure 1 is a perspective plan view; and

Fig. 2 is a section on the line I I of Fig. 1, showing a mine-truckpassing over it.

The through-track b rests upon the sleepers a and may be considered asthe main line, and against it the branch or connecting lines 0 and d arearranged at the desired place in such a manner that the tops of all therails lie in one plane. The turn-plate e is placed upon the levelcrossing formed in this manner. This plate is formed, mainly, by thecentral vertical pivot f and the plate members h, with guide-angles gchamfered off toward the rails. These parts it correspond in width tothe gage and are bent downward, forming inclined planes which providethe necessary bearing for the flanges of the vehiclewheels to run on, inorder to conductthem onto the turn-plate without shock or excessiveeffort. The lower ends of the inclined plates h rest upon the feet ofthe rails. In order, however, to obtain the necessary stiflness with acomparatively small thickness of the plate, these ends are preferablybent so as to form a vertical web i. This arrangement prevents tiltingof the plate around an axis passing through the supporting-surfaces whena vehicle runs onto and off the plate. In practice the symmetricalformation of the plate secures the still further advantage that whenonly one branch is used onesided wear may be compensated for by turningthe'plate through ninety degrees after it has been in use for a certaintime. Further, by this formation the branch tracks abutting obtuselyagainst the through-track are held together and against the main track.

The turn-plate described is pressed out of ingot-iron, and theequal-sided formation is particularly adapted for this. In thisconstruotion the pivot f and the guide-ledges g are pressed hollow; butthey may of course be equally well formed as separate parts and beattached by riveting or otherwise. means of the inclined planes h,provided on all four sides, in combination with the bent over webs orflanges i, the turn-plate is made j ected in use.

very stiff, so that it is possible to use very thin sheet metal,notwithstanding the rough" treatment to which the plate may be subto belaid upon the through-track with bent portions in the form of inclinedplanes en-- "gaging between the rails, and connections for the branchtracks.

2. Turn-plate for the formation .of track The'resulting lightness of thebranches or crossings, consisting of a plate intended to be laid uponthe through-track with bent portions in the form of inclined planeswhich engage both between the rails of the through-track and between therails of the branch tracks which are arranged in the same plane as theformer.

3; Turn-plate for the formation of track branches and crossings,consisting of a plate intended to be laid upon the through-track, withbent portions in the form of inclined planes engaging between the rails,and webs on the same which rest upon the feet of the rails.

4. Turn-plate for the formation of track branches and crossings,consisting of a plate intended to be laid on the through-track with bentportions in the form of inclined planes engaging between the rails witha pivot serving as a stop when a vehicle is being turned apdguiding-angles on the corners of the ate.

p Signed by me at Dusseldorf, Germany, this 25th day of May, 1906.

HEINRICH BANDMANN.

Witnesses:

WILLIAM ESSENWEIN, ALFR. POHLMEYER.

